2023-05-20 03:00:00
20.05.2023 05:00
(Akt. 20.05.2023 05:00)
Fewer asylum applications this year
©APA/THEMENBILD
In April, 3,467 asylum applications were made in Austria. This corresponds to a decrease of 33 percent compared to April 2022, when 5,162 asylum applications were made, the Interior Ministry announced over the weekend. A total of 13,634 asylum applications have been submitted since the beginning of the year – a decrease of around 18 percent compared to the same period last year. For the Ministry of the Interior, these figures prove the effectiveness of the measures to combat human smuggling.
While the number of asylum seekers in the EU is rising – EU-wide there were 324,000 applications by the end of April, an increase of 34 percent, with Germany (plus 87 percent), Italy (plus 63 percent) and France (plus 52 percent) being particularly affected – , they are declining in Austria. “The asylum brake works,” said the Interior Ministry. This development is attributed to consistent border point and border area controls in Austria and the fight against people smuggling on routes abroad, with Austrian police officers involved in Serbia and Montenegro and as part of “Operation Fox” in Hungary. International cooperation – such as closing the so-called visa route for Indians and Tunisians via Serbia or new return agreements – and accelerated asylum procedures in Austria would also play their part.
By the end of April, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) had made 3,049 negative decisions in quick and urgent procedures. In addition, by the end of April 14,297 people had evaded the procedure, thus forgoing protection and leaving Austria again on their own. Asylum was granted in 4,999 cases by the end of the previous month, and 10,070 asylum decisions were negative.
Broken down by country of origin, in April most asylum applications were made by Syrian citizens (893), followed by people from Afghanistan (602), Bangladesh (504), Turkey (262) and Morocco (250). The asylum applications from Tunisians (26) and Indians (60) decreased significantly. People from these two countries had made more than 32,000 asylum applications last year.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, as of May 1, 34,374 asylum seekers, persons entitled to asylum and protection were in basic care. There were also 51,370 displaced persons from the Ukraine.
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